Julia Kennedy
University of Leicester, Museum Studies, Graduate Student
With the dawn of a new educational act, it’s easy to blame policy like No Child Left Behind (NCLB) for the lack of sustainable museum-school collaborations or partnerships. While policy has advanced the formal educational world,... more
With the dawn of a new educational act, it’s easy to blame policy like No Child Left Behind (NCLB) for the lack of sustainable museum-school collaborations or partnerships. While policy has advanced the formal educational world, perception has prevented legislative growth in the museum sector. This dissertation attempts to explore the communicative barriers beyond NCLB with a review of relevant works, a small case study at George Washington’s Mount Vernon, and a survey conducted between teachers and museum professionals.
The recent shift in museum pedagogy gives voice to the idea that museum’s role in society goes beyond the care and preservation of material culture, to an educational responsibility to the public. As educational institutions, museums are natural partners for schools, but long-standing collaborative programming or partnerships are often rare. Understanding the differences in the two institutions is a vital first step for bridging the communicative gap and the relationship between museum and schools. For teachers, the accountability atmosphere is often difficult to deal with, and having a viable partner can take some burden off the stresses of standards. Are teachers, and subsequently policy makers, seeing museums as a way to fill this need for educators? Or is the previous perception of museums holding them back as viable resources?
The recent shift in museum pedagogy gives voice to the idea that museum’s role in society goes beyond the care and preservation of material culture, to an educational responsibility to the public. As educational institutions, museums are natural partners for schools, but long-standing collaborative programming or partnerships are often rare. Understanding the differences in the two institutions is a vital first step for bridging the communicative gap and the relationship between museum and schools. For teachers, the accountability atmosphere is often difficult to deal with, and having a viable partner can take some burden off the stresses of standards. Are teachers, and subsequently policy makers, seeing museums as a way to fill this need for educators? Or is the previous perception of museums holding them back as viable resources?
